World Cup 2019: Top four teams with most individual 150s in ODI cricket

Cricket, as people say, is a batsman’s game and limited overs cricket only strengthens that belief. With fielding restrictions in place, batsmen enjoy a lot of freedom and can have full value for their shots. The added restrictions during the overs from 10 to 40, along with the use of two new balls have made conditions more favourable for batsmen in one-dayers. Apart from the early movement, there is not much on offer for the bowlers these days. It has led to a plethora of 300-plus scores in one day cricket.

Teams like England are hammering big scores at will. They have some biggest hitters of the game in their line up like Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, and Ben Stokes. Similarly, India have the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in their line who have a huge appetite for big scores. The Australians have Aaron Finch and David Warner in their repertoire. All of them if set, tend to register big scores.

Here we will take a look at the teams having the most number of individual 150 plus scores in ODI history.

#4 South Africa (15)

AB de Villiers

Hashim Amla leads the charts for South Africa with an amazing four scores of 150 plus in ODI cricket. Amla has the highest score of 159 which he made against Ireland in the 2015 World Cup in Canberra. Quinton De Kock, AB de Villiers, and Herschelle Gibbs all have crossed the 150 run mark twice in one-dayers.

It also includes Gibbs' brilliant knock of 175 that helped South Africa chase a massive score of 435 against Australia in 2006. AB had smashed 176 against Bangladesh in 2017 at Paarl in South Africa. J.P. Duminy, Andrew Hudson, Gary Kirsten, Faf du Plessis, and Dave Callaghan complete the list with one score of 150 plus each in ODI cricket.

#3 West Indies (18)

Chris Gayle

The ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle tops the charts for the Windies with 150 plus scores five times. Gayle had hammered double hundred in 2015 against Zimbabwe, scoring 215 runs, his personal best in ODI cricket. West Indian legend Brian Lara is second on the list with three 150-plus scores to his name. Sir Vivian Richards has also crossed the 150-run mark thrice in his glorious ODI career. Amongst the current crop, Shai Hope and Evin Lewis both have one 150-plus score to their names.

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#2 Australia (20)

David Warner

The pocket-sized dynamo from Australia, David Warner has a big appetite for long innings. He has a remarkable 5 scores of 150 plus in one-day international cricket. His highest score in ODIs is 179 which he had smashed against Pakistan in 2017 at Adelaide. Second, on the list is current Aussie skipper Aaron Finch with two scores of 150 plus in ODIs.

Finch and Warner are joined by Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson who all have crossed the 150-run barrier twice in one-dayers. The Aussie great Ricky Ponting had crossed the 150-run mark only once in that famous ODI at Johannesburg against South Africa in 2006 but unfortunately ended on the losing side with Herschelle Gibbs scoring a marvellous 175 to guide his team home.

#1 India (28)

Rohit Sharma

The ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma leads the charts for India with 7 scores of 150 plus in ODIs. It is itself an all time record in ODI cricket. Rohit, in fact, has three double centuries to his name. The ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar comes in second with 5 scores of 150 plus in his illustrious ODI career. Sachin had smashed the first ever double hundred in ODIs against South Africa at Gwalior in 2010. India’s run machine Virat Kohli has himself crossed the 150-run mark four times in his ODI career.

Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir also have two 150-plus scores to their name. Some legends of the game like Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Singh, M.S Dhoni, and Mohd. Azharuddin have all breached the 150-run barrier once in their career. Dinesh Mongia is a surprising name on the list, having smashed 159 runs against Zimbabwe in Guwahati in 2002.